Efficacy and safety of lorcaserin in obesity: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Background: Lorcaserin is a novel, selective 5-hydroxytryptamine 2C serotonin receptor agonist, approved for the treatment of obesity. Several phase 3 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) trials have shown a significant reduction in body weight with lorcaserin. Research design and methods: We systematically searched the database of PubMed, Embase, The Cochrane Library and ClinicalTrials.gov up to 31 July 2019 and retrieved all the studies conducted with lorcaserin for ≥1 year that have explicitly reported the efficacy and safety outcomes versus placebo. Subsequently, we studied the effect of lorcaserin on weight reduction, FDA-defined valvulopathy, depression and suicidal risks in RCTs. Results: The meta-analysis of four RCTs (N = 16,856) demonstrated a significant decrease in body weight (mean ∆ −3.076 Kg; 95% CI, −3.49 to −2.66; P Conclusions: Lorcaserin reduces body weight modestly, with no obvious serious adverse side effects. The common adverse events noted with lorcaserin include nausea, dizziness, and transient headache.